Love's A Cure
by Yamada Umeko
Summary: They say laughter's the best medicine, and for a long time, she had believed it was true...until she met him. MomoOC, slight MomoAn, KamioAn
1. Chance Meeting

Chapter 1 – Chance Meeting

The afternoon sunlight shone through the slightly ajar windows, leaving patches of light on the painted walls. The room was orderly in spite of the mess of books on the bed, where a girl with wavy, dark brown hair lay, phone held close to her ear. She stared at the ceiling, green eyes looking but not seeing as her mind wandered.

The voice on the other end of the line spoke rather excitedly. "Onii-san won too. It wasn't even a match, really. They never had a chance!"

The girl only made a small sound of affirmation.

Instantly, she could hear the strong, feminine voice fill with concern. "Yuuko-chan?" her friend asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she answered, though her gentle voice held no sign that she was okay.

"What is it?" the other girl persisted.

Yuuko sighed. "It's really nothing, An-chan." Knowing that her best friend wouldn't stop at that, she relented. "It's just…I wish I could have watched it with you."

"Yuuko-chan…"

She knew that An was trying to think of something comforting to say to her. An was just like that. She was the best friend one could ever have. But…she wouldn't understand not being able to do something that one really wanted to do.

Yuuko had long accepted that she was different from other kids. For one thing, she did not have a normal childhood: she wasn't allowed to play outdoors with the neighborhood children. She always stayed inside, where she was safe and warm. Her friends were her stuffed dolls, staring and unmoving. For another, she was almost always sick. She had to stay in bed for days, weeks even, taking medicines, staring out the window, longing to be outside.

Really, she had gotten used to it. She never complained; she knew it was for the best. But then, she never knew about tennis back then, either.

Going to Fudomine was the first major decision she had made for herself, and thankfully, her parents had agreed, albeit not without a lot of arguing. There, she was exposed to a lot of wonderful things: being able to walk in a place totally different from her home, having people as friends, and most of all, the joys of tennis.

Admittedly, she never really got to play it—she wasn't allowed because of her weak heart—but she reveled in being able to watch the ball move: it hitting the sweet spot of the racket, flying over the net and into another racket, to be sent back to the other side. The beautiful plays, both in singles and in doubles, were a wondrous sight to behold. It was like stepping into another world. And being able to watch, she didn't really mind that much that she wasn't able to play.

But then, her curfew came knocking, demanding for her to come home. And then she remembered that she wasn't able to watch as much as she wanted to. She wasn't even allowed to go to tournaments. And really, she loved her parents, she understood, but sometimes, she couldn't help but resent the restrictions.

"…Hey, will you be able to hang out with me this Saturday?"

Yuuko blinked at the sudden change of topics. "Um…I don't know. I'll have to ask my parents first. But since I'll be with you, I think they'd let me, so long as I'm not gone too long. Why?"

"Oh, I just wanted to show you somewhere."

"Somewhere?"

"Trust me, you'll love it there. Ask your parents 'kay?"

"Sure," she agreed, though she couldn't guess what her friend was planning. An was spontaneous and unpredictable like that, but she found that as a great spice to her otherwise dull life.

"Hey, I have to go. I promised Okaa-san that I'd do the groceries today. Talk to you later."

"Okay. Ja ne."

Yuuko placed the phone down on the table, and stood up from her bed. Might as well ask her parents now. Asking them beforehand always was a good way to make them favorable to the request. And maybe she could add a stroll to that too. Her room was feeling kind of stuffy.

Her hair in the usual half-ponytail tied into place by a ribbon, she straightened her knee-length skirt and her sweater. It was mid-spring, but her parents insisted on it, worrying about her catching a cold. Yuuko compromised, accepting the little sacrifice. She'd rather wear it than not be allowed to go out.

She called out, "I'm leaving!" before she stepped out of their house and proceeded to stroll calmly, taking in the people walking by, going about their business. Her house wasn't far from the city proper, and soon enough, the bustling shops came in sight, with vendors trying to get the attention of passers-by, hoping to arouse their interest in their wares.

Somehow, Yuuko loved the hustle-bustle of the city. It made her feel strangely calm, more than silence. Maybe because it had been her companion for so long that she grew accustomed to it, and she longed for something else.

She was so immersed in her thoughts that she did not notice someone was in front of her until she crashed into that person. Yuuko bounced from the hard body and landed on her butt. _Ow…_ she thought grimly, and she looked up, only to see menacing eyes staring her down.

Quickly she stood up and bowed, offering an apology. "Gomen nasai. I wasn't looking where I was going."

The red-haired man, face harsh and eyes burning with anger, continued to glare at her. "Damn right you weren't."

At first, Yuuko thought that it was an elder man in his thirties, but when she straightened up, she saw that although he was quite tall, he was only a high school student, and that lessened her apprehension. Still, it was better to be polite, so she lowered her head again and repeated, "Gomen nasai."

The student, it seemed, was not letting it go just at that. "What, only an apology? You should learn to know your place, kid."

Yuuko's brow twitched, apprehension forgotten. _Kid_? And what place? The guy was only a few years older than her! If there was anyone who didn't know their place, it was him! But her face remained blank, though inside she burned with anger. She only continued to bow, repeating, "Honto ni gomen nasai."

This seemed to anger the man more, and he opened his mouth to say something that Yuuko was sure was an insult of some sort, only she wasn't able to find out, because a voice from behind them interrupted, "Oi, oi, what's going on?"

At first, Yuuko thought it was a policeman, but when she and the man looked, it was a middle school student with a bike, probably her age, only a head or so taller than her. He had spiky black hair and purple eyes, and was still wearing his school uniform, a tennis bag slung over his shoulder. Yuuko could see the "SEIGAKU" printed on it.

"What do you want, kid? It's rude butting into other people's business."

"What are you doing with that girl?"

The high school student snarled and grabbed her wrist. Yuuko tried to pull away, but her weak form was no match against his strong grip. "This girl was being stupid and bumped into me. I was just trying to teach her how to apologize properly."

The look in the newcomer's eyes hardened. Then he closed his eyes, sighed, and commented loudly, "It can't be helped, it simply can't." Then he kicked the metal stand of his bike so it could stay vertical without him holding on to it, and made a show of cracking his knuckles. "Mister, I suggest you forget about 'teaching' her and just leave, or else it wouldn't be pretty."

The grip on her wrist tightened, and the guy growled, "You rarin' for a fight?"

It was all Yuuko could do to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Really, the guy was simply _barbaric_. Who in their right minds would get into a fight just for the sake of it?

"I, for one, wouldn't run away from a fight." The spiky-haired guy said.

Yuuko was now starting to dread the situation. If there was a fight, and her parents caught wind that she was smack in the middle of it, she would get the lecture and grounding of a lifetime! Even if she _didn't_ get into a fight per se, she would still be the one with the horrible punishment in the end. Forget about not being able to hang out with An this Saturday, she wouldn't be allowed to go out of the house except for school!

Suddenly, the spiky-haired guy lunged, his fist connecting with the redhead's cheek, and consequently the grip on Yuuko's wrist was gone. She quickly moved away from the guy, wanting to avoid the punches that were sure to come. She was sorely tempted to run away and leave the two men to their fistfight, but she knew it was a bad idea as soon as she thought of it because 1) she had a weak heart, and she wouldn't be able to run for long, and 2) she had to show her gratitude to the spiky-haired guy for 'saving' her, and running away was _not_ a way to do so.

Yuuko found herself thinking of her bestfriend. An was a diplomat in these cases; she always knew what to say to calm people down. She wished her friend were here now.

Then, to her shock, the redhead looked up bewildered, a hand grasping his injured cheek, and cursed his opponent and ran. Just _ran_. She couldn't help but gape. What happened to "rarin' for a fight"?

She gazed at the spiky-haired boy, who was looking just as taken aback as she was. There were only two possible reasons why the other guy ran: either he was just bluffing earlier and didn't really expect the other guy to start throwing punches, or spiky boy really did pack a punch and he figured that he wasn't going to win.

"Oi!" Spiky boy called after him. "Where are you going?"

Yuuko couldn't help it; a soft giggle escaped her lips.

When she looked back at him, she could see that there was a grin on his face. Then, as if he remembered only now, he said, "Ah! Ojou-san, are you alright?"

"Hai. Arigatou." Yuuko answered politely. Although she wasn't scared a while ago (well, for the most part anyway), she really was grateful to him. At least now she wouldn't be in trouble with her parents. And besides, how many guys nowadays stood up to bullies to save a girl?

A hand rubbed his neck quite sheepishly as he said, "Well, I better get going now." He kicked the metal stand back up and swung a leg over his bike. "Take care, ojou-san!" And without a second more, he started pedaling away.

"Arigatou!" she called after him. She stood there for a few seconds just gazing after his back. Then shaking her head, she about-faced and started heading towards home. She promised she wouldn't be out long anyway.

By the time she was back, the incident was already far from her mind, buried under the thoughts of exam results and her excitement for her weekly health assessment. So far, she had done well the past few weeks; another one with positive results, together with a high score on her History test, could only mean fewer restrictions on her. Maybe she would be allowed to hang out with An and the others!

In any case, the future seemed to bode good things for her.

…oOoOo…

Translations of the Japanese words used:

Onii-san – elder brother

Okaa-san – mother

Ja ne – bye, see you later

Gomen nasai – sorry, I'm sorry

Honto ni gomen nasai – I'm really sorry

Ojou-san – miss (as in 'young lady')

Hai - yes

Arigatou – thanks, thank you


	2. And They Meet Again

A/N: Sorry this took so long, school held me up. DX

Thanks to all those who reviewed! You've made me so happy... :3

Disclaimer: Me no ownie...

* * *

Chapter 2 – And They Meet Again

"An-chan, where are you taking me?" Yuuko really, really tried to get An to tell her where she was taking her that fine, Saturday morning, but her bestfriend wouldn't budge. She had told An that she had to get back home by noon for her health assessment, so now the other girl was dragging her by the hand, quite in a hurry.

"Wait and see!"

Yuuko could only sigh. Another thing about An was that she was a pretty stubborn girl, and when she insisted on keeping something, Yuuko would never get it out of her no matter how hard she tried. Not that she really did, most of the time. Just in times like this _did_ she try, when she could practically feel her friend's excitement radiating, and couldn't help but feel excited and quite impatient as well. But An really was obstinate, and she could clamp her mouth shut when she deemed it necessary, even when both of them were emitting waves of excitement.

So she settled with listening to her surroundings. For a few moments, she could hear nothing more than the usual car horns and voices, but when she concentrated, she could hear the faint sounds of balls being hit back and forth.

Yuuko blinked, green eyes widening as a tennis court came into view, two pairs of players battling it out as they hit the fuzzy, yellow ball, trying to score a point. A handful of people were frolicking around, either waiting for their turn on the court or just watching the match. Since most of these people were in pairs, she assumed that it was a doubles-only court. Well, it was only logical when there were a lot of people wanting to play and there was only one court.

"Well?" An asked excitedly. "It's a great place, isn't it?"

"It is," she agreed, all the while staring in awe at the current match. The people who were playing weren't amazing like, say, Fudomine's tennis club, but they weren't clumsy and horrible like some people who pretend to be good. At least they knew what they were doing.

"And!" An added, blue eyes sparkling, "I invited some other people too! They'll be arriving soon." She stood on tiptoes and started looking around for good measure.

Just then, a voice behind them called out, "Yo, An-chan! Yuuko-chan!"

The two girls turned around and saw Kamio waving a hand at them, and beside him was Ibu, who was looking around rather uninterestedly. Both had their tennis bags with them.

"Hey, Kamio-kun, Ibu-kun!" An greeted back.

"What are you guys doing here?" Yuuko asked, smiling. She rarely smiled; she rarely even showed what she was feeling to other people, covering it up with a mask of politeness, but she regarded the pair in front of her as friends who had earned the privilege to be able to see Yuuko as she was. She couldn't—wouldn't—betray them by wearing the same mask she wore in front of strangers.

She had first met them when they were all in their first year in Fudomine, and she was just introduced to the world of tennis by An, her only friend then. She had seen them being bullied by the upper years, gaining the help of Tachibana Kippei—An's brother—and fighting for a better tennis club. Tachibana was an acquaintance before, as he often saw she and An together, but eventually, their bond became stronger as her and An's had, and soon he became her friend as well, along with all the other members of Fudomine's new tennis team.

The team—Tachibana, Kamio, Ibu, Ishida, Sakurai, Mori and Uchimura—were all great friends and brothers that she never had, and she felt happy in their company. It felt like a makeshift family—strange, yes, but a family nonetheless. And if smiling at them at every chance she got was a way to pay back the love and care they showered on her, then she would.

Kamio grinned back at her. "An-chan asked us to come by so you could watch some great tennis."

"Really," Ibu added, "I don't blame her for asking us. Look at the people here; they're not even good enough to win against that Gyokkurin pair, not that I'm saying that they're good. Well, they are good, but not that good; they'd never win against Fudomine with a doubles pair like that, that idea is just ridiculous, especially now that we've been training very hard ever since we lost to Seigaku. And anyway, what's with the hard training? There are times when my body is aching all over when I get home that I actually consider convincing Tachibana-san to make the menu a little milder. I'm not saying that I can't handle them, but I don't think it's a good thing to push the players hard when the difficult matches are just about to start…"

The other three sweatdropped as Ibu went into another "mumble fit", as Yuuko liked to call it. Still, she found it endearing, and uniquely Ibu, and she laughed a little. "You're right, Ibu-kun. So, can I watch this 'great tennis' that you guys are talking about?"

She could see that the two were ready for a match, but An waved a hand at them distractedly as she looked around some more and said, "Not yet, we're still waiting for someone."

Kamio shot her a questioning look, but Yuuko only shrugged, as puzzled as he was. Who else were they waiting for? It didn't seem to be the other Fudomine Regulars, or Kamio and Ibu would have mentioned it. So who—?

"Oi! Tachibana-imouto!"

Instantly, An's expression soured as Yuuko looked for the source of the voice. It seemed that Kamio knew the voice as well, because anger was now written all over his face. And Ibu was looking somewhat surprised.

"I _told_ you, my name is An-chan! Stop calling me Tachibana-imouto!" An protested at the same time that Kamio blurted out "What are you doing here, you bike-thief!" and finally Yuuko located the owner of the voice. He had spiky black hair and purple eyes, a tennis bag on his shoulder, with the word "SEIGAKU" printed on it—_wait, that description sounds vaguely familiar…_

"Ah!" they both exclaimed at the same time, the spiky-haired guy having seen her, and Kamio and An momentarily forgot what they were about to say as they stared at them.

"Do you know him, Yuuko-chan?" Ibu asked for the two who were too surprised to do or say anything. Or maybe he was asking for himself, just as curious as they were but less speechless.

Yuuko shook her head. "Not really."

The surprise faded and anger returned on Kamio's face. "Oi, Momoshiro!" he demanded. "How come you know Yuuko-chan here? Don't tell me you've been stalking her! You—" he tried to lunge at him, but An held him back with a cry of "Kamio-kun!"

The spiky guy—Momoshiro—frowned at Kamio. "Oi, stop thinking like that. That's not good; really not good." He then looked at Yuuko thoughtfully. "Ojou-san, aren't you the girl I rescued from that bully a few days ago?"

Yuuko barely kept her eyebrow from twitching at the word 'rescued', but she let it pass. How would he know anyway that she didn't need any rescuing? He was just trying to help. So she nodded her head briefly.

Almost immediately, Kamio and Ibu turned to her, slightly frowning. "Yuuko-chan, is that true?" Kamio asked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"If you had told us, we could've taught the guy a lesson," Ibu said. "A lesson he is unlikely to forget, one that he would likely take to his grave. We would've made certain that he never comes near you again. Do you still remember his face? Or maybe you got his name? Maybe Kamio and I can still find him, I can think of a lot of ways to make him fervently regret ever thinking of laying a hand on you… I wonder if he plays tennis; maybe then we can show him who he's messing with, and then we can get him to apologize properly to you, although that wouldn't be as satisfying as hurting him, but it would just be appropriate…"

Yuuko appreciated them worrying over her, but _really_, she was just fine. And didn't they hear what that Momoshiro guy was saying? She was already 'rescued', no need to rescue her now when the guy wasn't even in the area. "I'm fine," she said quickly, hoping that they wouldn't push the matter further. She then turned to the newcomer and bowed, "Thank you again."

"Sugoi, Momoshiro-kun!" An gushed. "You really rescued Yuuko-chan?" Momoshiro blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head at the compliment. Then An slapped her forehead. "Oh! I forgot to introduce you." She gestured to Yuuko. "Momoshiro-kun, this is Kouda Yuuko-chan, my bestfriend." She then turned to Yuuko and gestured at Momoshiro. "Yuuko-chan, this is Momoshiro Takeshi-kun. He's a Seigaku Regular."

Yuuko bowed and said, "Yoroshiku", and Momoshiro did the same, pink still tingeing his cheeks.

"What is this bike-thief doing here, An-chan?" Kamio hissed. Apparently, he still was not appeased by Momoshiro's good act of saving her from a bully, and his anger seemed to be bubbling because of a different reason. Maybe it had something to do with the way he called Momoshiro 'bike-thief'…?

"Oi, that was a long time ago, and I already said sorry," Momoshiro said. "Stop griping about it."

Kamio was just about to answer him with something that Yuuko was sure was scathing and insulting, but another voice—an unfamiliar one, this time—piped up. "Momo-senpai."

All four of them looked up, or more appropriately, looked down towards the source of the voice and saw a short boy, olive green hair and a pair of golden eyes peeking under his white cap. He was also carrying the same tennis bag as Momoshiro, and Yuuko concluded that the boy was also a Seigaku Regular.

"Echizen!" Momoshiro said, surprised. "You're already here? Why didn't you say so?"

Yuuko was sorely tempted to roll her eyes, and she could see that the Echizen guy felt the same way. "I just arrived, and you were busy arguing with Kamio-san."

Momoshiro blinked. "Ah, is that so?"

"Echizen," Ibu voiced, deadpan, staring straight at the boy. "How was the grip tape?"

The short boy shifted his focus from Momoshiro to Ibu, and he stared back with equal iciness before answering, "It was good."

"Was it? Ah, I envy you. It should have been mine if you weren't there, and I badly needed the tape too, since the grip of my racket needed changing, and I wasn't able to find the same brand of grip tape. I had to wait another time; good thing Tachibana-san was willing to share his grip tape with me, although it wasn't my favorite brand, but I couldn't have done anything since I needed to practice. It was really inconsiderate of you for not wanting to share the grip tape with me, although it wouldn't have been enough for the both of us, but still, I am older than you and you should have thought about it even for a second and not just go ahead and not let go of it until it was yours and be all smug about it. Besides, what was with that contest that your teammate suggested, anyway? 'The one who would be able to hit the thief would get to have the tape'? It's not a very good test, seeing as winning it could only mean you have a lot of luck instead of skill and—"

"Well!" An declared, clapping her hands together, successfully cutting off another round of Ibu's dragging monologue. "Now that you guys are here, we can start the tennis match!"

There was a resounding "Eh?!" coming from both Kamio and Momoshiro. It was obvious that, like with her, An hadn't told them what she had planned. And seeing how Kamio and Momoshiro acted when they first saw each other, and how Ibu had turned quite icy when Echizen arrived, as did Echizen, well, it was hard not to guess exactly why An did that. But then, if that was the situation, why did An think of it in the first place? If she knew the people involved would be unlikely to cooperate, how could she be certain that she would get to see what she came here for?

Still, Yuuko couldn't help but feel anticipation at the prospect of watching this doubles match. She knew that Kamio and Ibu were synchronized and that they were as good in singles as they were in doubles, so they would be able to show an exciting match. But what excited her was that she would get to see how the Seigaku Regulars played. She had heard of Echizen from An's stories of the previous matches of Fudomine vs Seigaku (although she only remembered them now), so she had an idea as to how good he was considering he won against Ibu, even though he was only a first year _and_ with an injured eye. And about Momoshiro…well, if all the Seigaku Regulars were of Echizen's caliber, then she had to believe he was good as well.

When Yuuko broke away from her reverie, Kamio and Momoshiro were raring to go, and Echizen and Ibu were heaving long-suffering sighs. Her brows knit together. Weren't they just shocked and disgusted at the idea of playing doubles against each other a little while ago? Then she caught a glimpse of a smug An by the sidelines, and it hit her. Of _course_. An had yet again used her talent with provoking others using only words. She had thought that that talent only applied to Kamio, but it seemed it applied to Momoshiro as well. Hmm, that was kind of interesting…

She shook her head. This was no time to think of such things, not when she was about to witness something spectacular. She hurried to sit down on one of the empty bleachers and focused as the game came to play.

…oOoOo…

It was disappointing. Echizen and Momoshiro…lost, to put it mildly. To put it realistically…they were crushed. Totally, utterly _crushed_. Well okay, she was exaggerating a bit; a 6-3 loss wasn't really a crushing defeat, but still. She had expected so much from them. What the heck, Fudomine lost to this kind of players?

She could see that they were arguing on the court. They absolutely weren't doubles-player material: any doubles player would know not to argue with his partner since it would mess up their combination. Or maybe that was just when they were paired with each other, and that didn't necessarily mean they were bad at doubles. Just bad when playing as each other's partner.

Still, it was disappointing. She had had great expectations of them, especially since she had heard so much about them.

But then, wasn't that why Fudomine was taking the District Tournament by storm? Sure, they lost to Seigaku, but they had won over everyone else, even Hyoutei. It was why people were stopping in their tracks and paying more attention to the unseeded school.

People were expecting too much from the seeded schools, thinking they would go undefeated and automatically move to the Regionals. They didn't pay attention to the other schools who trained hard to have a chance to prove their strength. And the seeded schools became too arrogant, so they didn't do their research and just put their feet up and relaxed. That arrogance became their downfall.

Well, it was human nature. And anyway, the match all in all was good, on Kamio and Ibu's part. It was probably true that they trained harder nowadays; she could definitely see the improvement from the last time she was able to watch them play, which wasn't that long a time ago.

Anyway, match aside, Momoshiro and Echizen seemed like interesting singles players, what with Momoshiro's Dunk Smash and Jack Knife, and Echizen's Twist Serve and One-Footed Split Step. Maybe they weren't overrated players after all. Just…not in doubles.

_Well, today was certainly interesting,_ she mused. Meeting new people, talking with Kamio and Ibu again after quite a while, and being able to watch a good match…this day was going to be remembered and kept in her precious box of memories which she held close to her and opened whenever she wasn't allowed to go outside.

And, strangely, she had a feeling that she was going to have lots more of these days she would want to remember in the near future.

…oOoOo…

Translation of Japanese words:

Imouto – younger sister

Ojou-san – miss

Sugoi – amazing

Yoroshiku – nice to meet you


End file.
